


Heaven or Hell

by little0bird



Series: Stolen Time [10]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dark Mark (Harry Potter), Heaven vs Hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 01:35:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20219617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little0bird/pseuds/little0bird





	Heaven or Hell

Bellatrix laughed.

It was a sound that would have frozen the blood in anything remotely human.

She threw her head back, laughing in triumph before the flash of green light sent her crashing to the stone floor of the Great Hall, her face frozen in psychotic glee.

She was still laughing when she opened her eyes and found herself to be surrounded by rocky cliffs, shrouded in dark swirls of fog.  _ That bitch couldn't have killed me! _ she thought.  _ It's some sort of jinx the Order made up… _

Bellatrix pulled out her wand and turned.

Nothing happened.

_Perhaps there's an Anti-Apparition Jinx_ _on the shore…_

Bellatrix stomped to a nearby boulder and plopped onto it, unheeding of the sharp, jagged edges digging into her bum. The toes of one foot started tapping a rapid, impatient tattoo on the rocks.

When the expected help did not arrive, Bellatrix imperiously held her arm out and rolled up the left sleeve of her robes. Without looking, she swept the tip of her wand up and over, letting it rest on the skin halfway up the inside of her forearm.

Like before, nothing happened.

Confused, Bellatrix looked down at her arm. It was smooth and clear.

Her howls of pain and rage echoed across the shore.

* * *

Severus settled into the hollowed-out space under a tree. He spent a great deal of time there. It reminded him of the many hours he'd spent in the play park as a child, hiding under the shrubbery. Oddly, it didn't bring him many painful memories. It was when his life had actually made sense. And even now, he could pretend Lily still fancied him. While the fantasies were cold comfort, indeed, they were better than the nothing he had now.

He let his eyes drift shut, while he unconsciously pushed the sleeves of his robes back. He paused in the act of pushing the left one back. Severus hadn't worn anything save long sleeves in over seventeen years. He supposed now it didn't really matter anymore. Shrugging, he shoved the left sleeve over his elbow and stared in shock at his arm.

The Dark Mark was gone.

Trembling fingers swept across the skin, over and over, seeking reassurance that it was really and truly gone.

Quite unbidden, a smile crept across Severus' face, as he realized for the first time, in over half his life, he was free.


End file.
